Chapter Eleven
In Central Military Building
Off to confront Roy sounded easier in his head, Ed realized.
He was going up the steps to the Main Office in Central, urging himself not to resort to child-isms and grab onto Jean's coat from nerves. No one had noticed him so far, or if they did, no one recognized him. Good. Not that he'd be that lucky when he got closer to Roy's office. Of course not, Riza would know it was him, do something blatantly obvious to alert everyone else, who would also do some blatantly obvious to alert the entire country.
Great.
But he could handle this, he told himself. Just the average raised from the dead. Not anything new, right? After all, Ross came back, and she's okay. Got married and everything. Sure. He could handle this.
Upon reaching this conclusion, he promptly forgot it as Hayate, now (for lack of other words) huge, barked and jumped on him, knocking him to the floor. Gotta love dogs.
"...GET OFF ME, MUTT!"
And suddenly, everyone knew Ed was back... Wonder how...
After a few cries of 'ghost' and 'impostor', Ed got dragged (by Jean, of course) to an elevator, and quickly hit the close doors button and the floor number. Then he sighed heavily, glancing at Jean.
"Thanks for the help." He said sarcastically, referring to the fact that Jean had stood by for the first few minutes laughing and, of course, smoking.
"Not at all." Jean said with a smirk. "Ready for the real fun?"
Ed blinked at him for a moment, then groaned. "Please tell me you're kidding."
"Not really." Jean said, holding up his cell phone. "You see, while you were informing your brother, I was informing the people here, and they're all very excited."
"Great."
So when the elevator doors opened, Ed was caught in a world-famous Armstrong/Artistic hug, that had been passed down generation to generation and so on and so forth. Pink sparkles and waterfall tears included.
Then there was Fuery, looking utterly confused at the whole idea (he apparently had not been informed).
Ross (Brosh? Ross? What's her surname now?) decided Ed hadn't learned the first time, and he was slapped for getting himself seriously wounded. Not to mention dying. That didn't help.
And so the greetings continued, until finally, Ed ended up at a pair of doors. With Ms. Riza smirking in front of them, one hand on the knob.
Ed swallowed. Then nodded, walking forwards. Riza opened the door, stepping back. Ed took a deep breath, but didn't pause, just kept walking.
There, at the desk. Roy sat, his head down in his arms, peacefully breathing. Ed's voice caught in his throat, as he tried to think of what to say. Two years seemed so long now, and--
The door shut behind him. Roy looked up.
Ed swallowed again, saying, "Hey."
Roy looked at him, then replied, "Hey."
It was a stiff reply, and suddenly, the air in the room dropped. Something felt...off about it. 'The tone' Ed realized with confusion. It wasn't the right tone, it was almost...sarcasm.
Ed must've looked confused, because Roy gave him a 'think for a moment' look. He put one and six together.
"So Jean told you about it, did he?" He asked dryly.
Roy smirked bitterly. "That's one way to put it."
Ed rolled his eyes. "Dammit Jean."
He looked at Roy, who had narrowed his eyes in...scorn?
Ed sighed, then said softly, "I just didn't want you to waste you life for me."
Roy's eyes hardened. He stood, walking deliberately over to Ed. He pulled his left arm up, with no objections from Ed. Slowly he rolled the sleeve back, with a look of hatred at the cuts.
"No, you thought you'd waste your own, right?"
Ed flushed, pulling his arm away. "Considering I had no idea what was going on, I thought it was the best thing to do."
Roy's eyes glinted angrily and confused. "What made you decided that, besides an abundance of self-pity and boredom?"
"Oh, so you think I'd sat down one day and thought, 'Hm, I'm bored. Oh! I wonder if drawing a blade across my wrist would hurt!' Yup, that's me!" Ed yelled.
Roy scoffed. "Got any better excuse?"
Ed started to shake. "You have no idea what it's like, having nothing to do, staring over your shoulder ever minute, because there could be someone out there, in the house next to you, plotting your death."
Roy looked surprised, but Ed continued,
"Or going to sleep at night, then waking up suffocating, because all you can dream about is a thin ally with no one around except a man with a gun and a strong arm."
Ed glared at Roy, and it seemed like he was crying, but there weren't any tears...
"And I seriously doubt you've ever sat in bed at night, gasping for air, thinking about how you might as well just end it, how all the people you care about would be better running their own life, instead of trying to get rid of the people who took away yours."
He paused, then added, "I always wondered if you hadn't just given up anyways."
Ed was clearly shaking now, in rage or in grief. His eyes reflected betrayal, but he wasn't crying
"How's that for an excuse, General Bastard?"
And he left. Turned on his heel, taking a side exit to avoid the crowd, and leaving Roy very confused, angry, and overall a bit lost about what just happened.
----
Ed walked away from the building, having no real reason to stay no. He didn't stop until he somehow found himself at the train station with a ticket in his hand.Risembul. Okay, time to head home.
So...yeah. Suckiest chapter ever to suck the sucker, eh? But there's nothing I can add, except:
DON'T KILL ME IT GETS BETTER!!!! HONEST!!
